The present invention relates to the nebulization of liquids and the production of burnable fuel mixtures of delivery to internal combustion engines and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved nebulizer rotor and an improved apparatus capable of producing a substantially homogenous combustible mixture comprised of nebulized particles of fuel, water and/or other suitable additives suspended in a suitable gas, such as air.
As used herein, the term nebulized refers to reduction of a liquid to minute particles or a fine spray or mist. Nebulized drops, for example, are classified on a chart entitled Characteristics of Particles and Particle Dispersoids in the Stanford Research Institute Journal, Third Quarter 1961, as particles having a diameter in the range of 1 to 20 microns.
In addition to my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,513 issued 31 Oct. 1972, over which the present invention constitutes an improvement, the below-listed patents have been called to my attention by the U.S. Patent Office in the related applications hereinbefore identified.
______________________________________ COUNTRY PATENT NO. INVENTOR DATE PATENTED ______________________________________ U.S.A. 930,483 Kershaw 10 August 1909 *France 562,749 Cugnin 27 February 1923 U.S.A. 1,515,766 Astren 18 Novemeber 1924 *U.S.A. 1,719,869 Boyd 9 July 1929 U.S.A. 2,223,836 Snyder 3 December 1940 U.S.A. 2,595,719 Snyder 6 May 1952 U.S.A. 2,636,488 Cedarholm 28 April 1953 U.S.A. 2,932,495 Olson 12 April 1960 U.S.A. 3,375,058 Petersen, et al. 26 March 1968 U.S.A. 3,615,054 Botz 26 October 1971 U.S.A. 3,672,293 Gona, et al. 27 June 1972 U.S.A. 3,875,266 Fonagy 1 April 1975 ______________________________________
Of these patents, the two marked with an asterisk, i.e., Cugnin and Boyd, are of particular interest. While the devices disclosed therein are generally relevant, the disclosure of these patents is not adequate to teach one skilled in the art how to construct a device capable of operating with the efficiency characteristic of my invention. For example, I have found that the use of a loosely arranged stack of rings as suggested by Boyd in describing his arrangement is totally unsatisfactory. As stated in each of my related applications, I have found that the stack of laminae carried by the hollow rotor in the embodiments of apparatus hereinafter described as the preferred embodiments should be pressed together tightly.
Further, it is noted that the nature and character of the material making up the rings of the devices of the Boyd and Cugnin patents is neither described nor suggested in these patents. These features are of importance and significance.